Spain Ramps Up Deportations of Undocumented Moroccan Migrants, NGOs Protest

The transfers of hundreds of sub-Saharan migrants from Tangier-Tetouan (to Ceuta) and Nador (to Melilla) to Morocco to areas further away from the borders with Spain, has led to increased checks on the documents of citizens with Arab appearances residing in the peninsula. A situation that is difficult to understand for these Spanish NGOs, who denounce the resumption of expulsions, "both by air and by sea".

A few days ago, a 22-year-old man from Tetouan, in an irregular situation, was arrested in the city of Seville and expelled to Morocco a few hours later. The young Moroccan was repatriated to Laayoune, while his entire family lives in Tetouan, in northern Morocco, denounce the NGOs. "It is incomprehensible, because it takes more than two days to return to Tetouan on his own," his family outraged.

In other Spanish cities, such as Valencia, cases have also been reported. The associations disapprove of these expulsions that take place in "more discreet" places and not towards more visible areas such as the ports of Tangier, Nador or Al Hoceima, where there are human rights organizations capable of denouncing these irregular expulsions.